Midwifery Today Issue 83 contains articles describing successful breech births, as well as giving pointers on incorporating breech birth into a midwifery practice. You will also learn about some of the commonalities between human and animal birth, and how animal birth still gets the reverence and quiet that midwives strive for in a normal birth. Once you start reading this issue, you won’t be able to put it down!

Articles in this issue include:

Midwifery Model of Care—On Breech Birth, by Carol Gautschi.
Midwife Carol Gautschi shares some of her experiences and suggests ways in which were can bring midwifery, rather than med-wifery, to helping with breech births.

Marion’s Message The Safest Kind of Breech, by Marion Toepke McLean.Sharing our birth stories is one way of teaching midwives their trade. Marion tells the story of a frank breech presentation, describing the steps in how the birth occurred.

Footling Breech: A Midwife’s Own Birth Story, by Veronica Wagner.
In this memoir a midwife reflects on the story of her birth as a footling breech in Germany during WWII, and the homebirths that she has attended in her life. She touches on both themes, remembering not only breech births, but the role that animals have played in many births she has been involved with.

Thoughts on Breech Birth, by Gloria Lemay
With a reminder to the practice the three Ps (patience, patience, patience), regular contributor Gloria Lemay gives us some tips on successful breech birthing.

Making a Difference: You Can Be an Agent of Change, by Christa Bartley. BirthNetworkd National is helping to build a national grassroots movements to empower women to make informed choices regarding maternity care. Learn more about this movement and what you can do in Christa Bartley’s article.

Turning Breech Babies after 34 Weeks: the if, how, and when of turning breech babies, by Judy Slome Cohain.
Learn about why some babies are breech, techniques for turning them before birth and what the evidence shows.

Breech Birth from a Primal Health Research Perspective, by Michel Odent.
“Being breech-born by the vaginal route is associated with the highest possible mean intelligence scores.” This is one conclusion of the Primal Health Research of the author. Read his simple rules for vaginal birth.

Safer Birth in a Barn, by Beth Barbeau.
Veterinarians and ranchers know that horses need peace and quiet when they are birthing. Why have we forgotten that women do best when treated reverently as well?

Midwifing a Difficult Kidding, by Cheryl K. Smith.
The author, a goat farmer, explains how she handles a case of malpresentation of goat triplets.

The Issues Associated with Postpartum Major Depression, by Chantel Haynes.
“Postpartum Major Depression (PMD) occurs in as many as 20% of new mothers.” Learn about its causes, its effects on children and how it can be treated.

Protecting Women from Exploitation–Interview with an Anonymous Midwife, by Wanda Walker.
In developing countries midwives are responsible for much more than birth. This interview addresses one midwife’s response issue of coerced birth control in Mexico.